New Castle – Garfield County authorities said today they are investigating the death of a Qwest executive during a hunting trip as a homicide but had not ruled out an accident.

Jeff Garrett of Aurora, an assistant vice president for Denver-based Communications International, died of a gunshot wound in his chest Saturday while turkey hunting in the western Colorado county.

Garfield County Sheriff Lou Vallario said the wound was not self-inflicted.

He said Garrett’s two hunting companions had been ruled out as suspects because their weapons did not match the fatal wound.

“It could be anything from he just happened to be in the wrong place and literally caught a stray bullet to somebody shooting at him because he was turkey-calling at the time,” Vallario said. “There’s some degree of culpability on somebody’s part here,” he said.

Vallario said Garrett was likely hit by a .22-caliber bullet fired from above. Shotguns are the only weapons allowed for spring turkey hunting, but other hunting seasons overlap.

He said Garrett and two hunting friends separated Saturday morning and agreed to meet in a few hours. The friends called authorities when Garrett didn’t show up, and search and rescue team members found his body at about 7 p.m. Saturday.

Garrett, 37, is survived by his wife, Charlotte, and two children, Olivia, 3, and Adam, 1. He worked on policy and law issues for Qwest in Colorado.

“Jeff was an extremely dedicated and valuable leader at Qwest and a familiar face at the Colorado state Capitol,” the company said in a statement. “More importantly, Jeff was a dear friend to many former and current Qwest employees.”

A funeral was scheduled Thursday at Lord of the Hills Lutheran Church in Centennial, with a burial service scheduled Saturday in Tulsa, Okla., where he was born.

Washington became the first state Monday to set up its own net-neutrality requirements after U.S. regulators repealed Obama-era rules that banned internet providers from blocking content or interfering with online traffic.